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The Hertford trail
The area in and around the county town of Hertford was Johns' stomping ground in his youth and he would know it well. Much of the action in Biggles on the Home Front takes place here and the localities are described in detail. Biggles Goes to School records some of Johns' exploits as a schoolboy and Malton Hall is likely based on the Hertford Grammar School which Johns attended. Hertford and its surrounding villages also occur incidentally in a number of other stories. Hertford *Molewood Road, Bengeo - Johns was born here but we don't know which house. *Hertford Grammar School - Johns attended school here. And this is the real life setting for Biggles Goes to School. The grammar school moved to new premises in 1931. Johns attended the school at its original site near All Saints' Church. *The Master's House - now a restaurant on Fore Street. This was the Headmaster's house of Hertford Grammar school. There is a plaque on the building stating this. There is no instance of Biggles visiting the Master's House in Goes to School. *Hertford Museum - might have exhibits on W. E. Johns. *41 Cowbridge - Johns lived here with his parents c.1900-1912. There is a plaque on the building commemorating this. *9 Elton Road, Bengeo - "Laburnum Villas". Residence of Johns' maternal grandfather, William Ayers Earle, a master butcher. According to Johns' niece Margaret Collins, Johns spent much time here as a boy and learnt the art of gardening.Margaret Collins, "Uncle Bill', Amateur Gardener", Biggles & Co. No. 20 (1994): 4. *Hertford North Station - in Biggles on the Home Front, one of Gaskin's men tailed Augustus Norman from Euston to here. Biggles and Ginger came here later on his trail. *Look out for a hotel/pub opposite the station. Biggles and Ginger stopped here for refreshment and met William Reverley and Verney Laxter. This place has gone by various names and was last known as Bridge House. The last known news was that this hostelry had been closed and was being sold off for redevelopment. Waterford *Drive through Waterford and look out for the location of the Old Windmill Tea Room - Algy and Bertie parked their car by the big tree there before proceeding on foot to mount surveillance on the Gortons. See article on Waterford for a link to a photo. *Algy and Bertie also took refreshment at a Tea Room. Could be the same or not. But in this case, Bertie was seated at a table on the lawn. It doesn't seem like the Old Windmill had a lawn. Woodhall Estate *Somewhere in the grounds of this private estate was the crash site of William Reverley's Auster. There are public rights of way through the estate grounds but only for those on foot. The site is probably visible from a publicly accessible road for vehicles. Recall that Algy observed that the crash lay "beside a small group of oaks about aa hundred yards from the road" (Chapter IX). Later Verney Laxter turns up. He claimed that he was "driving across the park and seeing that something had happened stopped to see what it was"--implying he was using a public road across or on the fringe the estate. When he left, Algy noted that his car turned left at the main road and headed for Hertford. Watton *Somewhere near this village is the location where Nellie Tomkins was killed in The Birthday Present. It was on a secondary road, little more than a lane. She was killed about 100 yards from her home which was a cottage, the lodge at the gate of an estate. The driveway to the estate had a stand of fine beeches to one side and parkland on the other. This description does not fit the Woodhall Estate mentioned above--the gate states on a main road, the A119, and the building at the gate is far from being a humble cottage. The gate house is also a great distance from the main residence and Flying Officer Paget must have had shockingly bad aim if he had been aiming for the front lawn and somehow got it into the vicinity of the gate house. Datchworth and Tewin *In Biggles Scores a Bull, after farm bailiff Johnson had been murdered, a boy spotted a large van heading through Tewin on the road to Datchworth late at night. Biggles surmised that the van must have been heading north for the Great North Road. *The fictional farm of Bramshot Hall, the scene of the murder, lies near Tewin but it may or may nor be Bramfield. From Bramfield, there is no need to pass Tewin towards the Great North Road. Betcham Manor? *Then there is Betcham Manor, home of Lord Anthony Hankin who built a flivver type flying machine in The Two Bright Boys. There are no details at all as to where this might be. Delmar *An RAF airfield used by Biggles as his temporary headquarters in Biggles Hunts Big Game. Probably fictional but located in Hertfordshire and approached by the Watford bypass. At that time, the station was in the process of being closed and was in the charge of a care and maintenance party. Elstree Aerodrome is approached by the Watford and was closed and handed over to civilian use shortly after the war, so that fits. Elmsthorpe *The fictional village where the events of The Case of the Missing Constable take place. Near Stevenage. A number of country houses were being robbed in the story. One named was Clagston Hall, probably also fictional. Warleigh Towers *A country house leased by millionaire Otto Brandt in Biggles and the Missing Millionaire. No clues as to its location and probably fictional. Described as an unattractive red brick house in the Victorian style with two turrets on either side. References Category:Itineraries Category:Research Topics